A shooting at a Georgia hospital Sunday night left a deputy and the man who was firing at him injured, but Dublin Police Chief Tim Chatman felt the situation could have been much worse had the hospital not recently practiced an active shooter scenario.
Details are still a bit scarce, but according to Chatman, the shooter was a patient at Fairview Park Hospital who was awaiting a transfer to another facility when, at some point, he left the hospital and returned with a gun around 9 p.m. Sunday. Chatman could not say why the suspect was hospitalized.
When officers arrived on the scene, the suspect, Akeem Woodard, opened fire, striking a Laurens County sheriff’s deputy in the leg. Officers returned fire and Woodard gave chase as officers pursued him both inside and outside of the hospital.
Authorities eventually caught up with Woodard and he was taken into custody without further incident. After securing the hospital, officers concluded that Woodard acted alone. They have not yet determined a motive for the shooting.
No hospital staff or patients were injured during the shooting and the deputy is expected to recover.
Chatman said the hospital practiced an active shooter drill just two weeks ago and, although the deputy was injured, they are grateful for the way things turned out.
“It could have been bad,” he explained.
The shooting came after a string of police shootings in the state, some of which claimed the lives of half a dozen law enforcement officers.
“All over America, you can see violence is growing everyday,” Chatman said.
[ The Telegraph ]
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